An ultrasound imaging system has included an ultrasound probe with a transducer, a console with an internal or external display monitor, and a keyboard. The transducer transmits an ultrasound signal into a field of view and receives echoes produced in response to the signal interacting with structure therein. The echoes are conveyed to the console via a cable or the like and are processed, producing images of the scanned structure, which may be visually presented in a display region of the display monitor.
The display monitor has included a cathode ray tube (CRT), a liquid crystal display (LCD), light emitting diode (LED), and/or other monitor. Furthermore, the display monitor has been a monitor with no processor or processing capabilities and that is simply an output device that accepts and displays data from a processor of the console. With such display monitors, generally, the display monitor faces the clinician operating the ultrasound imaging system. In this manner, the clinician can visually observe rendered images and readily access controls for invoking visualization and non-visualization features.
To show a patient and/or other person a rendered image, the clinician would have to turn the display monitor so that the display region is in the line of sight of the patient and/or the other person. Unfortunately, this may make it difficult for the clinician to concurrently observe the rendered image. Furthermore, with an integrated console/monitor, the clinician may have to turn the console and thus may no longer have easy access to the visualization and non-visualization controls of the console. Moreover, displayed text, graphics, etc. also displayed may clutter the display region and limit the size of the rendered image.